A few days later...
In the capital of Stone Island, there was a part of that city where a large building was located, taking up the space of an entire city block.
The place was quite large and had surroundings without any kind of separation. Only a natural lawn separated the sidewalks from the street from the outer parts of this place.
This property had a style that, while not unique, was something anyone in this state, or anyone else on the Central Continent, would readily recognize upon seeing it.
After all, the temples of the Spiritual Church were all similar in terms of architectural design and were spread across thousands of cities over this great continent.
Furthermore, the members of this organization, with their famous cloaks of different colors, were something that only existed in this power, which would distinguish them even more from other organizations.
Other than that, as could be seen in other large regional cities, there were always dozens of people standing in front of the temples of the Spiritual Church. They were devotees or people culturally influenced by the presence of this organization.
The Spiritual Church was a religion, but it was also a symbol of pride for many, a symbol of human history in this vast Spiritual World, enormous and for many, infinite...
Consequently, those individuals naturally sought to know this organization, visit unique places, and be part of this existence somehow, even if only observing it from afar.
But as followers of the Spiritual Church were making their presence felt around this branch responsible for Stone Island, three men walked in a large corridor inside this temple, talking solemnly.
One of them wore a purple cloak and walked ahead of the other two, who did not wear the typical church attire. On the contrary, they dressed in noble style clothes, usually seen in people of high regional standard.
This member of the Spiritual Church was one of the ten Bishops of this branch on Stone Island, one of the people responsible for the local administration.
Other than that, there were no other members of this organization in the 6th stage of cultivation in Old Stone, as this place only managed a portion of smaller branches within that state.
As for its regional hierarchy, this location was directly controlled by the Kingdom of the Waves branch, the regional headquarters of that power!
Anyway, as they walked down that corridor, the two old men dressed like noblemen were more and more anxious about what was to come next. That's because, after months of investigation into a specific matter and weeks of waiting, they finally got time to discuss their problem with the council in this branch!
That was no small thing, and the problems of these two men, or rather the family behind them, could be resolved if their attempts were successful!
They then heard the voice of that Bishop. "Let's go in. My nine brothers are already waiting for you."
"Hmm." The two nodded and then entered a large room, where there was a U-shaped table, around which those nine other people were, and an empty chair on which that old man promptly sat down.
They faced those ten elders until they heard the leader's voice. "Rofl, Duncan, I hear the Allen family is in a trade war with the Nash family. Don't tell me you came to waste our time to talk about it?"
Rofl Allen and Duncan Allen were respectively the current supreme elder and patriarch of the Allen family. And today, they were in this branch of the Spiritual Church to try a new plan that they had thought of right after the incident at the naval base of the Black Plain Army.
Eventually, hearing the voice of that Spiritual King, the leader of this post, the two old men looked at each other for a moment until the patriarch began to speak. "Bishop Shaun, there indeed is a relationship to this subject, but we're not here to talk about the Nash family per se, but the power behind them!"
"Oh? This again, huh…" That man who looked very old, full of wrinkles on his face, commented this in a low voice, remembering his more than a thousand years of experience.
It was not uncommon for local powers to try to use the church to their advantage in fights against regional enemies. But as the church didn't usually get involved in these schemes, it was common for people like Duncan to come up with the idea that outside forces would need to be stopped by the church...
"Well, you got this meeting, so I'll give you a chance..." The old leader of this group then looked at that man who had accompanied the patriarch and the supreme elder of the Allen family to this place and said. "Josh, you were responsible for examining this matter, right?"
"Yes, Brother Shaun, I received the complaint from the Allen family and checked all the evidence presented." Josh responded promptly.
"Hmm, alright, alright! Duncan and Rolf, let's hear your complaint and then Josh's opinion on the matter. After that, if you don't get five of our votes, leave it, as we won't accept you to talk about it again!"
"We understand, Bishop Shaun."
"So get started. You have five minutes to say what you want."
After that, Duncan immediately began his appeal. "Bishop Shaun, Bishops, I'm here because I believe the Nash family is being used by an outside power that is intent on taking over Stone Island!"
"Such power has already created a network that practically reaches half of our state and has been oppressing those who do not want to submit!"
"I fear that our Stone Island will lose its autonomy if this continues!"
"And the evidence I have about that, which has already been presented to Bishop Josh, is regarding the naval base located in the Black Plain. This place is where this mysterious organization stores its resources and sends them here."
"Anyway, months ago, when my family first contacted this organization, they brutally murdered our subordinates, Spiritual Kings, and Spiritual Generals. They did this because we refused to sell our state!"
"So, in light of this incident and the recent change on Stone Island, I hope the Spiritual Church does not fail our state. Or maybe, we may be completely absorbed by this mysterious organization..."
Upon hearing patriarch Duncan speak, the supreme elder inclined his head and spoke aloud. "Please, Bishops, save our state!"
Upon hearing all this, the people around that table, except for the man who had been in charge of it, all had the same reaction, which was boredom mixed with a bit of curiosity.
Not everyone had the same experience as Bishop Shaun, the eldest of them. Still, each of these people had seen and heard stories similar to the one Duncan was trying to sell them. Therefore, these men were not surprised by the words of that patriarch. They had just turned to Bishop Josh's direction and waited for his speech to begin.
"My brothers, I read all the information collected by the Allen family. In addition, I took a little observation trip to that naval base."
"But getting there, all I discovered was a small common harbor, a place that didn't even have a medium-level grade-2 array to protect that area, something a higher-level kingdom or empire organization would definitely have at any base in this northern region of the Central Continent."
"No, if it were an organization from outside the northern region, they would definitely use a high-level grade-2 defensive array at that location!"
"But beyond that, most of the people at that base were only at the beginning of the 5th stage of cultivation, and from their appearance, they can't be considered young. In other words, they are definitely not from a stronger region than ours."
"As for the Spiritual King in charge of that place, he's just a level 51 person, who, yes, I believe has Silver-grade techniques, as I've seen him in action fighting a bunch of beasts. And that's the only thing that can indicate that he came from a stronger place or is supported by an outside power."
"However, due to my observations, those people were just protecting the base and the goods transported to that place."
"Anyway, none of the Allen family evidence demonstrates an obvious relationship of influence from an outside power in our region. On the contrary, as I see it, the only relationship of this power with the Stone Island is of a commercial type, which does not go against the resolutions of the church..."
He then looked in the direction of those two men and said at once.. "I recommend that we refuse such a request."
